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CENTRO CE COC'.JMENT/lC'ON '~'

A SOCIO-ECONOMIC STUDY

OF CASSAVA AND CASSAVA STARCH PRODUCTION

IN AN ANDEAN VILLAGE

IN COLOMBIA

BY

PETER STROBOSCH "'/

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ................................................. ... , ........................ ..

Hethods used ................................................ -; ...................... ..

ACKNCMLEDGEMENTS ..........................................................................

CHAPTER 1: A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF CUATRO ESQUDlAS.

The infrastructure ..........................................................

The popu la t ion ................................................................. -.. ..

The primary school ...................................................... .....

El Tambo .................................................... 1/ .......................... ..

'CHAPTZR Il: THE ECONOMlC AND SOCIAL ORDER

Economic activities .................. '"' .......... oo." ........................ ..

The social structure ............................ " .......................... ..

CHAPTZR 111: THZ AGRICU1.TURE IN CUATRO ESQUINAS

A historial sketch .............................................................

The p'resent agricultural situation •••••••••••••••

CHAPTER IV: TilE CU1.TIVATION OF CASSAVA

A gene~al introduct-ion on cassava .......................... oo-, ..

l.and tenure .................................... I ••••.••••••••••••••

Preparation of the 5011 ••.••••••.••.•••• ~ ...••••.

Sowing ...........................................

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Weeding ...... lO ............. " •• " ........... ,. ....... " ............. .

The use of chemical technology ..••••••••.•••..•.•

Harvesting ........................ , ..... " ....................... .. Cas~ava and intercrops ..••••.•.••••.. ~ ...•.• , ••.•

!ia.rket ing ..................................................... ~ ,. ...... ..

Credit .... " ... ., ................... " ..................................... ..

Labor input, costs and benefits ....... ' ........... " ......... ..

CHAl'TER V: TIlE PRODUCTION OF CASSAV:t\ STAF,CH IN SMALL

FACTORIES

Cassava factories within the existing order •••••••

The process of cassava starch production in small factories ............................... ~ ............. ~ .... ..

A benefit-cost calculation ........ _ ...................... .. !iarket ing and cred it .................................. ,. ........... ..

CHAl'TER VI: A FUTURE VIEW

Present problems ...... . ' ................ "" .................... " .. ,. .. " .. ..

~ thoughts about the future ..........................................

Map l.

Mal' !l.

Table. l.

Table !l .

Southwest Colombia . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Ground-plan of a cassava factory .. .................... ..

Distribution oí houses ........................................

Some dates o~ theschoolyear 1975 - 1976 ••

Table IIl. Tbe 1and distribution .................................... .o,'" ..

Table IV.

Table V •

Estimated labour use in the production of cassava per hectare in zone Cauca •••••••••

Estimated variable production costa per hectare in zone Cauca ..•••.•.•.••..•••.•.••.

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Figure l.

Figure II.

Figure III.

Figure IV.

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Area grown with 11 major crops in Colombia ............................................................ ..

The trend in production, area and yields of cassava 1960 - 1969 .•.•.•••.••.•.•••

The effect of chemical weed control on labour use in cassava production in Colombia ........................................................... ..

The marketing of cassava starch ••••••••

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-INTRODUCTION

In June, 1975, 1 finished my bachelor's as a student of the Department of

Rural Sociology of the Tropics and Subtropics at the Agricultural

University in Wageningen, The Netherlands. In July 1 left with Letty,

my wife, for Colombia to do six mantha of fieldwork, wbich forma a part

of our study. 1 was invited to do my practical work as a' trainee of the

Centto Intenlacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) in Palmira, Colombia.

In August 1 spent three ,weeks at CIAT. As 1 did not know what the subject

of my study would be when 1 left Holland, the main objective of my stay at

CIAT was t~ choose a subject for my fieldwork and to write a proposal. The

subject of my study came about after some talks 1 had with Piet Spijkers,

rural sociologist at CIAT, and Rafael Orlando D1az, agrarian economist at

CIAT, wbo recently had completed a comprehensive study on cassava in five

areas in Colombia •

• The main reason to focus on cassava was that CIAT is the world center for

production research on cassava, so carrying out a study on cassava, besides

'being good personal training, might also be of some use for CIAT. Next

the decision has to be made wbere to carry out my fie1dwork. After

conferences with Piet Spijkers and Rafael Diaz 1 decided to go to the area

south of El Tambo, a village located in the Departamento del Cauca, wbere

much cassava ié cultivated. Two factors influenced my decision. In the

first place, the local srea contains several amall cassava factories 1"

which starch is extracted from cassava. From a soc iologic .. l point of view

this seemes interesting, as they were started in an autonomous way by

farmers, wbo in this way kept also the processing 'within their own control.

In the second place, the distance between this area and Palmira would allow

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me to be in contact with CIAT every now and then.

After the decisions were made 1 WTote my proposal, whlch can be summarized

as follows:

Give a short descriptlon and analysis, if possible, of the current

agricultural system oí small-scale cassava farmers in the area;

examine the marketing and credit structure; and

investigate how the processing of cassava on the local level affects

the production of that crop •

As 1 did not know anything about the local situation, it wasimpossible for

me to decide at that moment Which methods ofresearch 1 would use. After

having wrltten my proposal Letty and 1 left for El Tambo the 21st of August.

The next day we found ourselves a little cottage in Cuatro Esquinas, a small

village south of El Tambo, where much cassava ls cultivated and eight small-

scale cassava factories operate.

METRODS .USED

The first five weeks of our stay in the village were mainly sp'ent on

improving my kn~ledge of the Spanish language and paying informalvisits to

farmers and factories in order to introduce myself and to explain the purpose

of my stay. 1 met with very few problema during this introductory periodo

Sorne people, who had heardthat a foreigner had come to live in the village,

thought that 1 was an extension worker. Others wanted to know if 1 was

working for the Dutch government or for a Colombian agrarian institution.

But by telling them that my stay in a tropical country was only for my own

benefit snd formed a part of my studies with the main purpose of lesrning

80mething about the agriculture and the way of life in thia ares, 1 very soon

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built up a relation of mutual trust with the people.

After this initial month, in which 1 had already learned much about the

cultivation and the processing of cassava, 1 set up my study more

schematically. My ssmple consisted of 22 farmers, who 1 choose on the

basia of the geographical dispersion of the farms. ~ome lived rather

close to the viI1age whUe oehers were located at a one-way walking

distance of one hour from the village. My sample of factories consiated

of eight factories located within wa1king distance from the village, the

longer distance being one hour's walk. Five of the factory owners also

cultivated cassava themselves, so 1 obtained information on the cultivation

of cassava from.a total of.27 persons.

Besides theBe two samples 1 also gathered'information in informal talks

with labourers and other inhabitants of the village •

1 abandoned the idea of working with a questionnaire rather quickly, as

1 Boon became convinced that my informants would tell lesB by talking to

Bomeone with a questionnaire in hishand, writing everything down.

Therefore, 1 choose informal interviews, participation aud observation as

methods for gathering data.

There are a few farmers who 1 only visited once; most were visited two or

three times. 1 interviewed most farmers on their landa, but sometimes 1

visited them at horne. In the latter cases it often happened that after a

while the .farmer wanted to show me his crops in order to explain things to

me. In the beginning 1 sometimes assisted the farmers by weeding or

harvesting with them.

The duration of the interviews varied cansiderably, most were from oue to

three hours. During the interviews 1 wrote down some keywords in a notebook

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in order not to forget. 1 elaborated these notes on my way' home, or if

the fa~er did not live far away, at home.

Gathering data about the cassava factories was rather easy. 1 interviewed

the factory owners, while peeling cassava. This worked out very pos'itively,

as 1 did not have to take the factory owner's time and it made me less a

stranger. On an average these interviews were rather long, as frequently

they wanted to know things about me, mainly related to life in Holland.

This also happened often with farmers and other informants.

Although the focua of my study was the cultivation of cassava and the starch

factories, about the end of November 1 decided to paya little more attention

than' befo re to 'other aspects of the community. This provided the inat",rial

for Chapter 11 in which 1 discuss the economic and social order, and the

paragraph about the present agricultural situetion, in which 1 deal brief1y

w1th the othar crops grown in the area.

Reasons to ~roaden my scope were'on the one hand that one cannot understand

what is ,going ,on in tlie are,a without paying attention to the above mentioned

aspects. 'Also, 1 considered my stay principally as a first confrontation

with rural life in the tropics, a learning period, from which 1 wanted to

take as many impressions as possible with me to Ho1land.

The peak periods in my data gathering were September, and especially October

and November. ¡n December, 1 was less mobile because of the'often very bad

weather circumstances and an injured knee, which prohibited me from walking

long distances. In January, 1 spent much time on ordering the material 1

had gathered and on starting to write this reporto At the end of January we

1eft for CIAT to finish this raport.

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Tbougb tbis study will certainly sbow tbat it is carried out bya budding

sociologist, it was in every respect a very instructive learning periodo

. Not only for me, but certainly al so forLetty.

Peter Strobosch CIAT, Palmira, Colombia February, 1976

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

1 want to eXpresa my Sincere gratitude to the following persons:

Prof. R. A. l. van Lier, head of the Department or Rural Socio10gy of

the Tropics and Subtropics in Wageningen, Dr. F. C. Byrnes, then-1eader

of the Training and Conferences Program of CIAT, who arranged my atay

in C!>lombia as a trainee of CIAT, and Dr.F. Fernandez, present 1eader

of that same programo

Especia11y, 1 want to tharik Piet Spijkers for a11 his scope-broadening

advice and constructive criticismo With him 1 want to thank his wife

_ Saskia for the hospitality which we received from them during our stay

in Colombia.

1 want' to tharik Rafael D1az for his encouraging remarks and for allowing

me to use some of his data. 1 am also grateful to his assistant, Uldarico Varón, who took the trouble to select for me relevant data from

a huge pile of still unelaborated material.

Thariks al so go to Patricia Guevara and Francia AlbAn for their

secretarial assistence.

This list would not be complete without my wife Letty who shared this .

experience with me and with whom 1 often discussed my fieldwork.

Last but not least 1 thank a1l those hearty people in Cuatro Esquinas who

not on1y gave me information ln the talks 1 had with them. but made our

.tay an unforgettab1e experience in every respecto

Peter Strobosch

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ClIAPTER 1

A SHORT DESCRll'TION OF CUATRO ESQUINAS

THE lNFRASTRUCTURE

!he village of Cuatro Esquinas is located in the occidental mountain-

range of the Andes, at 'a distance of about 35 Km. southwest from

PopayAn, the capital of the Department of Cauca (see Map 1).

!he alt1tude 1s about 1300 meters. !he nearest big village is El

Tambo, locatrd about 7 Km. north of Cuatro Esquinas. rt has about

500 inhabitants. El Tambo is one of the 41 municipalities of the

Department of Cauca. Cuatro Esquinas, at its turn ie one of the 33

sub-municipalities of the municipality of El Tambo. The local

inspector and his secretary represent the municipal authorities of

El Tambo.

ODe can only reach Cuatro Esquinas via the road Popayan - El Tambo -

Cuatro Esquinas. From Cuatro Esquinas the road continues south into

the mountains. Only a small part of the road between Popayan and

El Tambo ls asphalted. The remalnder of the road surface consists

of earth, sand and stones.

The road between El Tambo and Cuatro Esquinas is ln a very bad

condition. When it rains, transport becomes very difficult,. . ,ce

road south of Cuatro Esquinas i8 even worse.

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Transport facilities between ropayan snd El Tambo may be called

satisfying. Frequently jeeps and buses are going. rt is a one-hour

trip by jeep, but nearly a two-hour trip by bus. Costs of transportation

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MAP I.SOUTH-WEST COLOMBIA

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PAt:il"ic OCEAN

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1 are respectlvely $14 and $10 •

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lt ls not an exaggeration to say that transport facilities between El

Tambo and Cuatro Esquinas leave much to be deaired. People never know

how long they will have to wait for transport, which often means a

severe 108s of time. Ooly on Friday and Saturday ia transport rather •

frequent. These are market days in El Tambo and Cuatro Esquinas,

respectively. lt is a half-hour trip by jeep and a 45-minute trip by

1 bus. Costs of transportation are respectively $7 and $6 , which ia

considered by many people as expensive.

Transport facilities to the area south of Cuatro Esquinas are frankly

.very bad. Also the costs of transportation are relatively high·. People

tbere complain rightly of this sltuation. Transport ls provlded by the

transport cooperative, which has existed in El Tambo for five years •

Three years ago water-works were constructed. 1 estimate tbat about 707.

of the houses in the village are connected to the system. People pay

$11 permonth. The other 30% and the farma in the mountains,receive

tbe'ir water either from wells or mountain brooks •

The village sti1l do es not have electricity. People say tbat lack of

economic resources in the municipal{ty is the main reason. Altbough·.

peop1e discuss it in the village council of communal action, .they think

tbat it will be at least two or three more yeara before electricity will

reach the village •

Nearly all the houses of the village are located along the road.

Geograpically the village can be divided into two parts:

1 One US dollar is about ~33 (Columbian pesos: January 1976) .' In January 1976, prices went up 25% to 45%.

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Ibe village centre

Ibis ia the section where people atarted to build houses about

10 rears ago. Before that time, one cannot speak of a village.

Only three scattered houaes existed inthose days. From an

economic as well as from a social point of view, it ia by far •

the mast important and active part of the village. Ibe pub, the

main shop, the school and tbe market-place are located in the

centre. Furthermore, mast of the traders operate there.

La Laguna

This part of the village begins about 150 meters fromthe centre,

with onlythree housea in between. La Laguna 1s the youngest

part of the village. It has been built during the last five yeara.

The housea of the vil1age are usually constructed of local materials.

According to the way of construction the houses can be divided into three

categories:

1. Houses with walla and a floorof stone. The roof ls either made of

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roofing tiles or of corrugated iron and most of them have open

windows. Nearly all the bigger houses belong to this category.

Rouses witlv!'Ialls cons·isting of a woooen framework, filled up with

a .mixture of earth, ~traw and water •. These walla have been

plastered with a mixture of manure, earth and water. :he houses Q;~

have earthen floors. Ibe roofs are mostly made of corrugated iron

and in sorne cases, of roofing tiles.

Houses with walla as descrlbed in category 2, but unplastered. They

also have earthen floors. Ibe roofa are either made of corrugated

iron or leaves. Nearly ~11 the smaller housea belong to this category.

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!he houses of eategorles 2 and 3 are often badly ventilated beeause of

lack of windows.

Within the village, the three categories of houses are distributed as

follows:

TABLE 1. DISTRIBUTION OF ROUSES IN CUATRO ESQUINAS

Number of -Houses Location

Category 1 Category 2 Category 3

The Centre 14 7 o ,.', - - La Laguna 9 15 6 TOTAL 23 22 6

~hree houses are uninhabited. The construction of two more houses 18

nearly finished. There 18 one household occupying two houaes. One

house is only used as a storage room by a wam8n who trades in coffee

and plantaina. The total number of households Is 44.

THE POPULATlON .. lt seems a rather fair estimation to Bay that the size of the average

household 1s between six and eight persons. The total number of

inhabitants in the village will be somewhere between 264 and 352.

The concentration of hQuseholds in the centre expanded rather rapidly

between 1965 and 1970. From 1970 on, people had toseek a,place for

living outside the centre because of lack of space, thus La Laguna

originated.

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Besides the natural population growth. the expansion of thé~village is •

for a large part due to the irnmigration factor. We can di,scern two

immigration streams.

Internal immigration stream

In the last decade many households which already cultivated land in this

area, ,moved from the countryside to the village. Main pull factors were:

a. The primary Behool, whieh was built ten years ago.

b.' The marketing facilities. People who live far away in the mountains

often have to lead their heavily loaded mules or horses to the village ,

'on smaU and, in rainy times, very slippery paths., This fakes II1Uch

time and is rather risky as the animals can easily be injured if they

fallo

c. F amUy Hes.

rhe presence of relatives, already living in the village, attracted

people, especi~lly during the last five years.

Because of this internal immigration stream the distances betwéen' the

houses and the work plots are often very long.

External irnmigration stream

Thirty years ago people from other parts migrated to this area and occupied

land in the'countryside. Some of them moved to the village later and thus

formed a part of the internal immigratien stream.

1 shall return te this subject in Chapter 111 when 1 discuss the developm-

ent of agriculture in this area • ,

One.does not find mBny elderly people in the village of Cuatro Esquinas.

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This may be due to the fact that most of the irnmigrants to the village

have been young people.

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Host of the household consist of the nuclear family. Sometimes they also

include grandparents and/or the children of an unmarried daughter. The

number of village people living in "un ion libre" (concubinage) is limited,

whereas a fair number of people live in this manner in the countryside.

Host of the people claim ,to be Roman Catholic although it is difficult to

get an idea how dceply people profess their religion in daily life. There

18 no churC¡h in Cuatro Esquinas. ,Every two months a priest says Mass in

the school. This Mass is attended by many people. People don't go to

church in El 'Xambo. Tbe transportation costs may be an impedimento

Superstition seems to be rooted rather strongly, especially among the

women •. People attribute protecting, c~ring and luck bringing properties

to various objects and plants.

TIIE PRIMARY SCHOOL

The primary school was built ten years ago. lt's importance as a pull

factor on migration has already be en mentioned. The school offers five

'years of primary education and there are two first classes. '

During September, October and November the school lacked two teachers.

Since December a11 six courses have had a teacher:, lt is s,riking that

all teachers hope to use their jobs as a stepping stone to the university,

where they have not be en able. to go yEit because of lack of economic

resources. They all hope to be appointed someday as a teacher in Popayan

in order to be able to combine their teaching with a study at the

university.

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The number of pupila in the school ia 195. Many children come from

outside the village. For them, the average one way wa1king distance

'ia 3/4 of an hour.

The c1assrooms are amall and there is a serious shortage of"elementary

materials. Eighty-one pupils (42%) do not have seats, 60 pupils (31%)

lack desks. Lacking these materials, s"ome children bring a seat or "

tab1e to 8chool. The on1y educational possessions of the school consist

of a globe and some self-made maps and drawings of thé human body. In

case something is badly needed, either the teachers or sorne parents have

to pay for it.

TABLE 2. SOME" DATA FOR CUATRO ESgUINAS SCHOOL, 1975-76

Number of pupils Average age Youn¡est Oldest Minimum costs Class pupi pupil per year per

9 d" pupil lA + lB 30 47 9,5 7 14 $150

2 22 21 10,3 8 16 $ 300

3 23 20 11,6 9 20 $ 350

4 8 10 14,6 10 22 $ 450

5 6 8 14 11 18 $ 500

The fact that a lot of pupils quit school after "the first year iB a normal

tendeney, according to the hesdmaster." Based on four years of teaching

experience in Cuatro Esquinas, he gave the following explanations about

progress and attendance at the school:

After the first year the children are tIDre ol' less" able to read

and write. ~ny parents are of the opinion that this minirnum of

" education will do in the life of their children.

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Related to the above factor, many chi1dren have to help their

psrents after the first Bchool year. At their age, this he1p

consists of light work l!ke bringing food to their fathera in

the Helds, the leading of horses andmu1es or the gathering of . , wood.

Lack of money i5 a major reason that children dontt attend

Bchoo!.

, The parents of children are no longer motivated to continue .. Bchool for whatever reasons. After the first Roly Communion, which often takes place during

the first Behool year, many parents take their children from

school.

Another tendency in the area ia for pupila to quite Behoo1 sfter ehe

third year. !he main reason i8 that at this age the children are

considered to be able to,do heavier works 1ike giving a hsnd in the

households snd helping their fsthers on the fields.

The costs mentioned in Table 2 refer on1y to the buying of books, pencils

and exereise books. However for those chi1dren who come from far away.

COBts are eonsiderablY increased SS they have te take mealB in the

vi11age and this eosts $7 to $10 a day.

On sn average, on1y 20% continues Bchool up to the fifthcourse inclusive.

O'f .this 20%, on1y 25'7. go on to secondary schoo!. •

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EL TAMBO

El Tambo is the meat important centre for a rather vast area. Only a

few people can afford to travel to Popayan regularly. On the one hand

the trave1ling expenses and the price level in Popayan are severe

impediments. On the other hand, one can say that nearly al1 the

important services for the agrarian population are available in El

Tambo. Thus most of the time, there is no urgent need oí going to

Popayan. Usual1y the local shop keepers go to Popayan weekly in order

to buy their merchandise.

The ~in economic and social services granted by El Tambo are:'

The Marketp1ace

For the people of Cuatro Esquinasthe market in El Tambo, .held

twice a week, acts more as a place where one buys goods than as

a' place where one sells his wares·. In rrry opioioo the maio reason

lB that the three.importaot cash crops caasava, coffee a~d

plantaina are not so Id on the market in El Tambo. Hardly any

cassaya reaches outside markets at the momento The coffee ia

either sold to traders in Cuatro Esquinas, or to the Federation

of Coffee growers in El Tambo. Plantaina are sold in Cuatro

Esquinas and transported elsewhere. So only very little amounts

of these three main crops are put on the market in El Tambo •

Rather, people buy on the market those goods which are never, or

hardly ever, available in Cuatro Esquinas. Examples are open-

grown vegetables, meat, domestic articles, textiles, drugs,

etc.

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11.

The market days, Wednesday and Saturday, have in addition to their

economic functions, also their social functions. Friends and

relatives, who during the week do not see each othera often

exchange noveltiea. A lot of drinking and chatting take place

snd in some pubs people can dance.

The little cattle market held once a week

The only farrier in' El Tambo lives next to the .cattle market .•

Other phopping services

As the shopkeepers in Cuatro Esquinas seU only a few prima!-"y

goods, mest other needs are purchased in El Tambo. Alao available

in El Tambo are barbershops, workshops and 15 similar services.

Municipal and Judicial Institutions

.The secondary school

The church, of which the relevancy far the inhabitants of

Cuatro Esquinas seema to be little.

Agrarian Ínstitutions. Important agrarian institutions inelude the

Agrarian Credit Bank' and the Federation of Coffee Gro"'er:~.

Festivals. Several times ayear there are festivals in El Tambo,

including bullfights, c.ock-fights and a lot oJ drinking and

dancing. ,

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CHAPTER 1l

TRE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL ORDER

ECONOMIC ACTIVITlES

In the area we can distingu1sh the fo11ow1ng act1v1Hes:

Agriculture:

Most households receive the main p'art of their inconie from

agricultural activities. The area csn be characterized by having 8

"minifundio" structure. !he majority of the farmers are small land-

owners. However, the amount of landless laborera is also verybig.

Industry :

12.

The industrial activities in the area consist of the extraction of

starch from cassava in small factories and the extraction of raw sugar

from the 8ugarcane the latter. Most of the households that receive

their income mainly from the cassava starch production live in the

countryside •

Trade:

Though the tr8ding sector ia an important sector, 8 r8ther large part

of it ia in hands of people from outside the village. In Chapters IIr,

IV and V 1 will disctrSs something about marketing of crops and the

cassava starch.

In the village are six shops in which only primary goods are soldo Two

of the shops are the main sources of income for their keepers. !hough

their shops 'form an important addition81 income, the other four receive

their income mainly from agriculture •

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Cattle breeding:

Cattle bredding is an important source of income for only about seven

hous.eholds. Cattle breeding takes place on a very low Bcale ánd very

extensively. 1 estimate that the total number of cowa in the area near

Cuatro Eaquinas will be no more than about hundred. "Some big haciendas

are located deeper into the mountains, about a two hour's drive south

of Cuatro Esquinas. Mast of these areowned by absentee owners living

in Popayán. At the haciendas a loi of people work as "peones". These

haciendas do not have any influence on the political or socio-economic

life in Cuatro Esquinas.

Sorne eight families near Cuatro Esquinas own a team of Oxen. Ploughing,

mostly done by contract, is a nice additiona1 income for them.

In the area sorne people a1so fatten one"or more piga. Almost all these

people have sorne relation to the production of cassava starch (see

Chapter V). The amount of people as we~l as the number of pigs ia

limited.

Among the other activities of the area may be mentioned the administrative

joba, the selling of meals, fruits and vegetables, carpentry, sewing ,

washing clothes, matplaiting and otber plaiting. The scbool offera

employment to six teachers. None of the six teachers is head of a

bousehold in Cuatro Esquinas.

Nearly all the bouseholds keep somepoultry. However, not in big

quantities and mainly for domestic use. Tbe same can be aaid of the

guinea pigs, which are considered to be a delicacy.

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* ).. /t6fA '" It T.t,"'r A C--;

Finally, 1 could mention that some families train cocks for the cocks

fights. However, awning a cock 1s, in ~ opinlon, more a means of

obtaining social status than of obtaining an economic gain, acquired

from beta.

Whereas in the countryside nearly all the incomes are related to

agriculture or to cas.ava starch production, a fair number of people

in the village primarily earn a living practicing non-agricultural

and non-industrial sctivities •

14.

For 19 of (he 44 households, ",hich is 43'7., activities outside the

agricultural or industrial sector are the main source of income. For

the other 25 households, l

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15.

the local dentist, Who only extracta teeth. The third one receivea

additional income from his three daughters, who work as house maids in

PopsyAn.

Besides these three girls 1 on1y know two other people who' have

employment outside Cuatro Esquinas. One of them i8 working as a house

maid in Cali, the other one is a schoolteacher, working in a nearby

vi1lage.

With a day wage of $25, or even less, the incomes of the day laborera

cannot be but very low. As they say: "a day wage ia of no use for us,

it barely keeps our families alive". A fa ir amount of day laborera

do not have employment every day. Moreover, the bad weather cond ltions

in the rainy months often prohibit any activity on the land.

Even for those who are able to save a ltttle money snd want to increase

their inceme, eppertunities are acaree. Those whe de manage to save

some money have, according to my opini

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!he most suitable crop in this area for working on a cost-share 1ease

basis, la casaava, being an annual crop. !he other type of share-

cropping, the output-share lease, Which means that the share-eropper

pays all the variable costs, does not exist in the area.

2) Rent ing land

In case they have st their disposal some more money than in case 1,

they can try to rent a p.iece of land •. However, renting land in this

area is rather difficuit because:

the land la already scaree

16.

·the landowners who have enough land to be able to lease a piece

of land, refuse to do so. Why ls difficult for me to say, but

one reaaon may be that the landowne.r can insure a constant, cheap

labor supp1y for himself. !hat ts the reason why some of the

bigger landowners, who on1y cu1tivate a part of their land, are

. ve.ry unpopular among those Who are seeking 1and. Like they say:

"the rich do nót want the poor to have."

3) Buying land

lt i8 hardly possible for a day laborer to save enough money to be able

to buy.a pieee of land. Land prices vary·conslderably but at least

$9000 per nectarea w111 be needed. Moreover, he cannot ge" «.edit.

In case he has the,required amount of money. the land scarcity L9 a

severe obstacle for buying land.

4) Trading

After possibility 1', this seems to be the most feasible possibility •

however. some people who wanted to start trading in little quantities •

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told me that the already operating traders keep the trading sector

cIosed for outsidera as much as possible. The mest popular erop for

starting to trade in, iB planta in. Compared with crops like coffee or

cassava. plantains require less money.

Migratlng to the eity is often conaidered as another alternative. As

migration falls beyond the acope of thls study, 1 shall not attempt

to discuss.

Afterhaving briefly viewed the possibilities, it may be elear that ia

nearly impossible for a landleas lsborer to improve his life conditions.

Therefore, 1 presume that in the future mere and more 1undIess people

wiIl be foreed to migrate. 1 sha!1 touch on this subject in the last

chapter.

Although 1 do not know the exact percentage of landless day laborers in

the countryside, from many talks 1 had with day laborers, 1 have

eoncluded that al so in the eountryside a fair amount of people are

landless laborera.

In the eategory 2 - 4 ha., one person ls a sharecropper, a second one i8

partIy lsndowner, partly sharecropper. In the category 4 - 10 ha., one

person is partly landowner, partly sharecropper.

Some small farmera work on the land of other farmera in times that they

cannot do any work on their own landa. Others regard this additional

ineome too small and prefer to do some repairs for themselves or to do

nothing.

Let ua now have a ahort look at the sources of ineome of the 19 households

whieh receive their income mainly from non-agricultura! activities.

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Rouseholds in the Centre:

1) The large intermediate trader in cassava starch, '*'0 alBo owns a

casaavs factory. A fev months ago he bougbt 40 ba of land, '*'icb

vill enable bún to enhance bis future income.

2) The matn shopkeeper. He OWDS by far the biggest shop.in the village.

He sella more than the other shopkeepers, due to his relatively

great variety of wsres. In addition, be has rented a 2-ha plot on

whicb he grows cassava. Tbe cultivation of tbe cassava ia done by

a sharecropper on a cost-sbare lease basis. He also .intends to stare

growing onions tbis year altbougb they are not yet cultivated in thia

area. When 1 asked him the reason '*'y, referring to the risk'

involved, be replied: "1 l!ke to invest 'trrf tIIOney in s01Qething nev."

In a few years, after having saved enough money, this family hopes

to be able to start a living in Popayán.

3) The.local pub owner. Raving formerly been a farmer, he atarted tbe

'pub three years ago. When 1 asked bim which he preferred, ,farming or

baving a pub, he answered tbe same way the shopkeepera did, namely

that the pub (or the sbop) supplies income every day snd all year

around, whereas agriculture provid~s revenues only in certain periada

of the year. Besides, his wife sells meals on Fridays and Saturdays.

He alBo lets a litt.!e house.

This family too 18 hoard1ng money in order to be able to leave for

Popay4n 1n a couple of years.

4) The 8_11 intermediate trader in cassava starch. He 1s alao the on1y

trader in coffee who lives in the vi1lage. He a1so lends money every

now and then and OWDS 3.5 ha of land.

,

S) The son of tbe small intermediate trader. He recentÍy ·started

trading in coffee as well.

6) The local policeman. To obtain additional income bis wife sells

vegetables and fruits. Moreover, be owns 2 ha ,of land.'

7) The local inspector. Re is living on bis own and receives bis

monthly salary.

8) The lack-of-all trades. He is a landless laborer. He builts

houses, paints, makes repairs, etc.

9) A widow who eama very little money by trading in plantaina on a

very low scale.

Households in La Laguna:

10) .An owner of a cassava factory. He also owns a shop in which his

wife is worki~g and be owns a bus of tbe transport cooperative in

El Tambo and some land.

19.

11) A trader in plantains. He also rents 3 ha of land and his wife sells

meals on Frtdays and Saturdaya.

12) The local carpenter. His wife owns 0.5 ha, planted with coffee.

13) A policeman without additional income.

14) A household of two friends, who are the locsl tailora.

15) The aecreta!! oi the inspector. He alao receives hia monthly salary.

16) A road worker earning his monthly salary.

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20.

17) A wldow Yho washes clothes.

18) A widow Yho makes ~ts, brooms and string bags.

19) A housep-ainter Yho was unemployed during the five months of ~ stay

in the village. His wife wsshes clothes in order to be able to

feed the fami1y.They a180 lease a room.

1 arn aware that 1 have referred only to the sources of iucome of the

heads of the household., In a few cases children's "ork increases the

farnilys' incomes; however their contribution i8 relatively amall •

Therefore, 1 consider the aboYe mentioned sources of incorne as

representative for the income position of the household.

From this list we can see that of the nineteen households only few

better-off people were and are able to differentiate their economic

activities in order to obtain additional income (households 1, 2, 3, 4,

6, lO, 11). In some cases the desire to leave for the city might have

been'an impulse to differentiate the economic activities.

A short remark may be made on the division of labor between men and

women in the village.

As most farmers have their lands outside the village and as there i8

hardlY,any tillable land in the village itself - for instance behind

the houaes - IIIOst households lack subsistence plota, in co' ::i .. st with

the farma in the countryside. So there i8 hardly,no talk of working on

the subsistence plot, mestly the woman's jobo In general, one mey say

that'the majority of the women fill their days with cooking, washing

clothes, and looking after the children. They also take care of the

poultvY. Those cases in which the woman has other activities to do have

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already been mentioned in the list of the 19 househo1ds with main1y

non-agricu1tura1 incomes. The spare time of the women ia mostly filled

with visiting other ~men aDd chatting.

After this ahort outline of the various economic activities, 1

summarize them as follows:

Although agriculture ls the main economlc activity for mast

people (57% of the households) the'number of people who receive

their income mainly from ocher activitiea i8 also considerable

(431. of the households).

Big landownership is limited. Besides a group of small and medium

size landowners, nearly 50% of the heads of households with an

income from agriculture are mainly day laborers.

After agriculture, trading i8 the mast important sector.

The industrial sector - the cassava starch production - ls focused

ln the countryside. Only for very few inhabitants of the village

ia this industrial sector very important.

Cattle breeding ia a relatively unimport:ant sector.

Economic differentiation within the household i8 limited to a few

'families.

For the majority of the people, the possibilities for creating

other waya of earning au additioDa1' income are acaree.

One may already have noticad some obvioua differences between the

inhabitants pf the centre and those of La Laguna.

these differencea in the next secciono

1 shall desl with

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TlIE SOCIAL STRUCTURE

AIthough during my fieId work 1 did not go very deepIy into the social

• structure of the vl11age, a few words can be aaid on it. Let ua

successively have a short look at the village and Che differencea

between the centre and La Laguna.

I , The Village

Because of a lack of data 1 cannot stratify the vlllage on the basis

•• of income levels. However, a look at the occupatlonal structure may teach us something. The only category of people of which 1 can say with 'certainty ':hat they have low incomes, ls the category 'consisting .of the

12 landless laborers plus the households 7, 8, 9, 15, 17, 18 and 19.

This 451. of the households earn an income between $400 and $800 per

month. Tbe other households form a rather heterogeneous category with

a wide range of economic activities. Although of sorne it can be said

with certainty tha~ they belong to the better-off group of people, 1

do not have enough information to generalize.

On first sight the village seerned to me a quiet, peaceful place in which

people live in harmony but 1 had to alter this view. as 1 stayed longer

in the village.. Personal observations which changed my mind inc1ude

the following facts:

• Sorne people do "not go to the pub or a festival when they know that .

. people they dislike are there.

Expressions of displeasure of people trying to rent a piece of land

towards people who refuse to lease a part of their uncultivated 1and

.' a re common.

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People with low incomes refer to others as "the rich"

Among the women much rivalry and jealously exists. They gossip

a lot, mostly focusing on the going off on the sly of married meno

People do not express these feelings of dislike in publico They only

told me about their feelings in personal talks.

In short, 1 can say that interaction takes place most frequently

between people with more or less the same economic position, relatives

and people who need each other economically (e. g. the landowner and

his sharecropper).

Interactions between those unequal economically are less. For those

with low incomes the lack of economic resources is an impediment on

such matters as drinking, eating, dancing, sport ing , travelling to El

Tambo and PopayAn, etc.

The centre versus La Laguna

The first impressionone geta, when one walks through the village for

the first time is an outstanding difference in material things between

the centre and La Laguna.

In the first place, the houses in La Laguna make a much more shabby

impresston than those in the centre. 1 verified this impresa~"-" by

counting the different types of houses, which resl'lted in T"ble 1.

In the second place there are the differences in furniture and the way

people are dressed, especially thechildren. These differences will,

for a large part, be due to differences in economic position. Of the

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24.

low income group, five househo1ds are living at the centre~ Whereas

15 households are living 1n La Laguna.

. When we look at the 19 households with mainly non-agricultural incomes,

we can aIso see that the scalee are tipped in favour of households in

the centre. -Explaining these differences is nearly impossib1e for me.

The relative poorness of La Laguna may be related to the fact that La

Laguna has be en built during the last five years and ls therefore the

youngest part of the vil1age •

lt may be that peop1e who formerly lived in the countryslde decided to

migrate to the village because of the push factora of the countryside

(e-.g. isolation and things related to that) and the pull-factors of the

vUlage (e.g. family living in the village, the s:hoo1, shops, transport

and trade facilities), even though they lacked sufficient resources to

do so.

In analogy to the often disastrous effects of imigration to the cities,

1 v"iew La Laguna as the" "slum" of Cuatro Esquinas.

In accordance to Whst 1 said ear1ier, the large number of low income

families in La Laguna manifests itself a1so in the way of interacting.

1 have the ve~ strong impression that the inhabitants of La Laguna

interact more with each other than with peop1e of the centre.

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CHAPTER III

T1IE AGRICULTURE IN CUATRO ESQUINAS

A HISTORlCAL SKETCH

Until 30 years ago the matn cash crop in the area W8S sugar caneo This . 1

8ugar cane waa used for the production of "panela" in the "trapiches".

Not only wss panela the main source of cash income, it also formed a

very important part in the daily diet of the people.. Nearly everybody

cultivated sugarcane and owned 01' leased a trapiche. The surplus of

. panela was transported by mules and horses to El Tambo. In El Tambo

the panel a was either sold onthe local market 01' to traders from

PopayAn. Coffee was also cultivated, partly as a subsistence crop.

partly as a cash crop, although in much lower quantities than at presento

Peopl~ cultivated plantaina, bananas, maize, ca9sava and some fruits 8S

subslstence crops.

Abou~ three de~ades 8g0 people began to grow cassava as a cash crop.

According to a very old farmer, this new way of cultivating'cassava

started in 1946. The first two men who started the cultivation of

ca8sava in big quantities were from Pasto, the capital of the Department

. of Nari!!o: In Nariflo cassava alresdy played an important role in the

exlsting agricultural system. One of these "Pastusos" not only

introduced the cassava as a cash crop, but also introduced ~!, . use of

oxen for ploughing. Formerly, the preparatlon of,the so11 was done by

hand. Those who began to cultivate cassava ln big quantities were

ma1nly people from the.Department pfthe Valle del Cauca and from Nariflo.

1 Panela La a form of unrefined sugar; s trapiche i8 a sugsrmill. ,

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Aa sn old farmer asid: "From the people of Nariflo and the Valle del

Cauca ve leamed how to cultivate and to eat cassava." Formerly.

people grev sorne cassava plants between their other crops only for use

in thé household. Alao, csssava became an important ingredient of

"sancocho". the soup eaten dal1y in many homes.

After the lnitial steps were taken by the Pastusos people from other

parts of the Department of Cauea followed their example. Those wo

started to grow eassava as a cash erop were relatively wealthy people,

probably because only these people could afford the risk and uncertainty

that are inv01ved in starting something new. During these first years

on1y a small part of the native populatlon adopted the cultlvation of

cassava as s cssh erop. The majority of the people continued to grow

'their csasava as before. This meanc in ama1l quantities and only for

family needa. However. che basia for anew iMported cash erop had been

laido

As yeara passed by, more and more peop1e atarted to see the profits of

the eassava cultivation and ehanged from augarcane to cassava, sorne in

a 8mall way, others in a large meaaure. 1 asked'aome older inhabitants

of the region why they had changed to casssva. The main reason was that

che benefits of the panela hardly compensated the time and costa of

culttvating sugarcane and producing panela. On the contrary, the

cultivation of cassava was much more lucrative. Besides this economic

aspect, peóple were a bit tired of growing sugarcane. As they say, the

cultivation of sugareane ls "llrabajo duro" (hard work). whereas the

cultivation of cassava is considered as "trabajo ligero" (light work).

The surplus cassava, wh1ch was still small in those earIy years, was

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27.

transported to El Tambo by mules and horses, a six hour' s frip to and from. In El Tambo the cassava was either sold on the local market or

to buyers from Popayan and even Cali. Although this was the beginning

of an expansion of the cultivation of casaava, it would nevertheless be

many years until the cassava would become as important as it is toda},'.

In addition to the reasons already mentioned, the cultivation of cassava

has been stimulated mainly by th~ following factora:

1) Tbe introduction of the small cassava factories, in which the

cassava la processed to starch.

,2) Tbe construction of the road between El Tambo. and ·Cua'tro.

Esquinas.

3) The !ncrease of the populatlon.

1 2 Ad 1). About 20 years ago, aman from Palmira built the first cassava

factory 'very close to what ia now the village of Cuatro Esquinas.

According ·to many people, Palmira ia the birthplace of theae sll)Sll 'cassava

factories. The cassava factor!es soon began to be a very important market

for cassava. The constant demand for cassava conaiderably stimulated its

production. People a1so did not have ~o go al1 the way to El Tambo to·

sell their cassáva. Moreover, selling to the cassava faetories was much

more profieable for the farmers, compared to Bel1ing in El Tambo. 3

1 People don't remember the exaet date, but a safe margin seeros to be between 1954 and 1956.

2 Palmira is located ae a distance of 25 km northwest of Cal!, capital of the Department of Valle del Cauca.

3 See the psrsgraph on marketing in Chapter IV

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It has be en during the decade after the introduction of ehe cassava •

faetories -- more or les s between 1955 and 1965 -- that the majority of

the farmers eut down their sugareane and started to cultivate ea6sava

instead.

Ad 2). !he constructlon of the road between El Tambo and Cuatro Esquinas

--ten years ago -- consisted of widening the muletrack and a 1ittle

improvement of the road surface. The road is still unpaved and turns

into a brook when it rains.

However, it enhanced the accessibility of the iso1ated area. On one

hand, it becsme possible for the people to travel aud to transport their

products to El Tambo by bus or jeep aud .it also became easier for them

to make use of the services found in El Tambo •

On the other hand, 'it meant tbat the buyers of products -- namely cassav.a,

coffee and plantaina -- could penetrate into the area itself. Related

to the cassava fac~ories, the construct.ion of the roád meant a considerable

improvement of the investment cUmate. Mest cassava factories;have been

built during the last decade.

Ad 3). As a third important factor, we can mention, the population increase,

which meant a e~nsiderable expansion of the cultivated area, mainly with

cassava.

TRE PRESENT AGRlCULTURAL SITUATION

Cuatro Esquinas is located in a temperate zone. Because of differences

in altitude, the area near El Tambo is a cold zone, the area south of

Cuatro Esquinas (near the village of El Puente) ls a warm zone.

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People do not divide the year into different seasons. When the weather

i5 nice, they say it is 8ummer; when it rains, they say it ia winter.

However, one can say that there are two rainy seasons: February through

Hay and September through December.

As Chapter IV is dedicated to the cultivation of cassava, 1 shall present

in the following sect10n a ahort descr1ption of the other crops which aré

cultivated in this area.

Coffee

Besides cassava, coffee i8 the other mast important cash eral'. Although

coffee has traditionally been more important than cassava, the economic

relevance of the two crops may nowadays ae least be called equal •

Only very few people aelect the seed8 ofthe coffee. The majority of

the farmera select the seedlings when they are about 50 cm high. No

chemical technology is used in growing coffee. The weedings,in August

and January, are done by bando The fact that not all the laborera weed

carefully often results in damage to the roots of the coffee'tree. 1

met one farmer, who, because of this reason, cuts the weeds with a

"machete" (chopping-knife) just above the surface of the 8611. •

Though this method 1s more labor intensive and requires more'weedings,

hesaid' that since he has 'practiced this' method his yields are .consider"oly

higher than before.

The most cOllllfOn shadow ,:,rees are plantains, bananas, "guamas" and

"cachimbos". The plantaina and bananas have the advantage of bringing

in money, themselves, in contrast to the other two types of trees. ,

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Years ago there was only one big coffee harvest, in March and April.

During recent years, people have also harvested a big quantity in

December. According to the growers, this shifting has been caused

30.

by changes in climatological conditions. They expect that in the

future the harvest in December will yield more than the harvest in

March and April. At this moment the two harvests yield about the same

quantity.

Rarvesting ia mostly done by day laborera. Growersrarely pay per

amount of harvest~ coffee because,' in this case, harvesting ia done

carelessly. Because of the coffee harvest, March, April and December

'are peak periods in the demand for labour. Infuose perioda many.people

from other parts come to this area. Even then, however, many farmers .

'have ashortage of labour. Becauseof this scarcety some coffee farmers

offer better food and pay a few pesos mOre than others in order to attract

enough labourers. The average day wage for harvesting coffee is $20.

The. harvest in this area is a time consuming job, because:

rainfall i8 often heavy during harvest time, making the steep

alopes,very slippery;

the trees are mostly pretty high;'and

if weedings have been poorly done, 'the tall weeds obstruct the work

For these reaaons the amount harvested in one day by one person ia

usually very small, and therefore, the costs of harvesting are high. The

ahortage of labour, the frequent bad weather circumstances and the other

factors mentioned result in very big losses sometimes. lt i8 not uncommon

that half of the harvest ia lost becauae the coffee falls off before it

can be harvested.

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Another important problem 18 the worsen1ng s011 fert11ity. People

told me that ten years ago the yields per hectarea were four to five

times bigger thsn st the moment! The need for fertilizer is felt by

many, but lack of cspital i9 asevere impedimento

31.

As far as 1 know, nobody receives credit from the Agrar1sn Credit Bank

for buytng fert1lizer."

Marketing.

Although the Federstion of Coffegrowers 1n El Tambo psys more for the

coffee than the trsders do, most people sell to traders for the

following ressons:

!he Federation buys only coffee of very good quslity, ss this

coffee 1s exported. Large part of the yield is often affected

by the westher snd therefore not sccepted by the Federation.

The Federat10n only accepts very well dr1ed coffee. This helps

to partly lower the price difference between the Federation

snd the trsders, as moreweight can be sold to traders, Who

accept coffee that is not well dried.

Selling to the Federation means extra transportati~n costs.

The bulk of the coffee is sold to 1ntermediate traders. Soma traders

work on their own account; others trade jointly with Bomeon wno supplies

them with money. This way of trading i8 called the piquero system. A

piquero i8 sn intermediste coffee trsder who buys with someone else's

money", in most cases a wholessler. " The piquero buys coffee on the various ,

local markets. He earns his money in two ways:

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He pays tess fo~ the coffee than tbe Whole8ale~ pays to him

He also ~eceivea a commission f~om tbe Wholeaale~

1 W8S told by some fa~ers tbat some piqueros amuggle with weightB of

theit: balance.

The coffee market in Cuat~o Esquinas ia msinly in handa of three

intermediate traders:

1 A man living in Cuatro Esquinas. At the same time he is the

amall inte~mediate trader in cassava starch (see the parsgraph

on,the marketing of cassava starch).

A woman from PopayAn. Sbe is a1so one of the two large buyers'

of plantains. She owns a house in the village, wbicb abe uses

as a storage room and abe a1so owns a truck.

A woman from El Tambo. She transports the coffee ~ bus or

jeep. Every now and tben abe lends money.

!he trader in Cuatro ,Esquinas works part1y as a piquero, partly on his'

own account. He does not condition tbe transaction between fa~rs and

himse1f by giving credit. Instead, he sometimes has to borrow maney

from other·people. From tbe coffee he buys on bis own account, he

sometimes se1ects and dries a certain amount in order to se11 it to tbe •

Federatf.on, but only When'he considera tlle price offered by t'::" Federation

more 1ucrative than the price offered by others, "ao are meut1y Wholesalers •

Durlng my stay he paid an aversge of $320 per 12,5 kg, which he then sold

tor $~40 - $350. BeBides betng a piquero, be obtsined his commiBBion of

$4 per 12,5 kg from tbe whol1laler.

1 1 do not count his son, who on1y recent1y Btarted to buy coffee.

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1 was abo told tbat sometimes the other intermediate traders, selecto

dry and sell coffee to the Federation. That part of the coffee that is

. not used for family needs nor sold to the above mentioned traders or the

Federation is sold to otber amal1 intermediate traders, mostly piqueros.

Schematically. ve can represent the marketing of coffee in Cuatro Esquinas

as follows:

COFFEE

Plantains.

FAMIL Y NEEDS

THE LOCAL TRADER I_-¡

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sbould not be forgotten. Tbey are important because of," as 1 cal! it,

their "faci11ty" by wbich 1 mean:

• • plantaina are sn easy crop to cultivate;

tbe trees produce for & few years; and

plantaina bave a big advantage compared witb cassava and cOffee,

for in contrast witb tbose crops, which are harvested respectively

once and twice ayear, plantains can be barvested year around.

As large quantities are eaten daily in the housebold, its importance as

a subsistence crop is clear. Tbe fact that people can seU some plantains

every now and then secures them of a small but regular income. Also, in

case of a sudden cash need, people can sellsome plantains. Especially

fo.r low lncorne families, without any cash reserve, plantaina are very

lmportant.

Marketing.

The' greater pare of theplantain8 18 sold on Fridays on tbe lo~al market.

In fact, the selling and buying of plantains ls tbe only important trade

• on the market ln Cuatro Esquinas. Most of the plantains are bought by two women from Popayán. One of them

has already beeo mentioned as a trader in coffee. In addition to Friday,

they also trade in this area two other days of the week.

Two more intermediate traders buy lesser amounts of plantains. One comes I I • I

". from El Tambo and trades in the area twice a week. The otber one 18

living in La Laguna. Because of a 1ack of capitsl he does not buy as much = '

ss he previous1y did. Moreover, there are four 8ma11 intermediate traders

35.

coming from eIsewbere and finally, there are soma very amall intermediate

traders, living in and near Cuatro Esquinas.

• lt la good to repeat that the tr~de in plantaina is one .of the best

• alternatives for raising incomea of people with litt1e or no land.

The traders mainly sell the plantains to salesmen in one oí the threé • , ,

market galleries in PopayAn. The remainder is sold to buyers in Popayán

who tran9port the plantaina elsewhere,. for instance to Cali.

.. The average selling price during my atay in Cuatro Esquinas waa $220 par load of 125 kg. Plantains were resold in Popayán for $300 per load. Costs for the traders are $15 per load (transport, the porter and' the

admiasion to the market gallery). Profit per load i9 thus about $65.

• During the Iast summer the price was much lower, averaging $125 per load.

From my observations of the average amount of plantains bought by each

trader per week, an approximate representation of the marketing of

plantains i8 as, follows:

• TWO lARGE TRADERS

MARKETGALLER; -J TWO MEDIUM TRADERS

• PLANTAINS 100% R SMALL TRADERS "

• OTHER BUYERS •

OTHER , VERY SMALL TRADERS

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36.

As I do rtot know the total amount used wlthln the family, I on1y ment10n

the percentages as related to the marketed surplus.

Banan~s.

The amount of bananas cultivated in the area ls much,1eas than of

'plantains. Plots with only hananss donot exit. While most of the time

bananas are used as shadowtrees for coffee, sometimes one finds bananas

on the subsistence plot.

People prefer to cu1tivate plantains because of their much', hlgher use

value, Compared to bananas, plantalns offer far more altematives for

use ln the househ01d and th'erefore the demand for plantains 1s, in the

countryside as well as 'in the cities, much, bigger than the demand for

bananas. As a cash crop bananas are al80 worth less, $60 per load of

125 kg. The marketing of bananas is in 'the same hands of those who

control the plantains markets.

Maize.

Maize ls almost always cu1tlvated only as a subsistence crop. On1y in

case of an urgent cash need 1s some maize soldo There are two yle1ds

per year. The maize 1s sown at the beg1nning of the ralny manths -- flrst

time, in September and a second time in February. There is on1y one weedlng,

about three weeks after the sowing date. Sometimes the ma1ze ls inter-

cropped with either cassava or beans. No chemica1 technology ls used.

After about three months people being to harvest 1ittle quantities.

Peop1e prepare the coms, whlch are still very soft then, in many ways. ,

At this early stase, however, the maize deteriorates rather quickly and

cannot be stored. Oo1y after five months, when the coms are hard, 1s \

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37.

the greater part of the maize harvested snd stored. Maize is either

used for human consumption or as feed for the poultry. People consider

maize too expensive for feeding to the pigs. Byproducts of the cassava

starch production are avsilable as cheap alternatives to feed to piga.

Beans.

Beans are also mainly cultivated as a subsistence crop. There are two

ylelds. The flrst crop 18 sown at .the end of September, weeded a month

later and harvested in December. !he second crop ia sown in February,

weeded a month later and harvested at the end of April. The beans are

only grown as a~ intererop,. either with eassava or maize. No chemiea!

technology la used.

Sugarcane.

Though sugarcane was formerly the moat lmportant crop in this area (see

previous aection) , onlya few people atill eultivate it ln little

quantitles. Raw sugar i8 extracted from the sugarcane in little mills

and the greater part of this raw sugar la used for family needs. Sometimes,

people feed eane to horses and oxen as a source of energy. Only a very

small part of the crop reaches the market ln El Tambo.

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38.

CHAPTER IV

THE CULTIVATlON OF CASSAVA

A GENERAL INTRODUCTION ON CASSAVA

Cassava is one of the world'a moat important staple foods. In terma

of calories per unit land area per unittime. cassava appears to be able

to outproduce all other staple food crops. lt has been estimated that

cassava ia the main food of approximately 200 million people (Cowsey and

Haynea, 1970).

The tubers of the cassava plant are usedextensively as a basic food

crop by low-income families living in the humid tropics. The root is

one of the cheapest sourees of earbohydrates available to people although

it eontains very little protein.

The greater part of eassava eultivation is presently, and presumably will

continu'e to be, under small-scale, traditional produetion conditions.

lt is mainly found on small plots and the bulk of the labour f6rce ,

management and even the capital, are provided by the same household.

Output per farm 1s amall. Frequently, a large part of the erop i8

utili~ed for individual family needs. Production in excess of family

needs is sold or exchanged at local markets, or sold to intermediate

traders.

~re eassava is produced cOllDllercially, the products' of the plant are

utilized in local industry and are also 'exported to foreign markets. lt

18 utilized a8 a grain substitute in human and animal d1ete, primarily

in the form of flour and dried chips.

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39.

There 18 still very little known about the agricultural system and the

decision-roaking procesa of casaava farmera in different areas. Great

deal of socio-economic research viII have to be carried out on the farm

level. There are three important reaaons why more research ia necessary •

AlI over the world many attempt8 to improve the life conditiona of

a amall farmer, for instance by meana of better credit facilities

or the introduction of technical innovations, have not been

successful because of a failure ta pay attention to differences in

the agricultural system and the decision-making procesa ameng these

farmers.

There will be a growing demand for cassava in the future, tt it

maintains lts relative position in the increaaing demand for food.

Colombia ia identified as an area of potential cassava ahortage.

If:a cassava shortage ls to be avoided (if no alternative sources::

of carbohydratea become available) then cassava production should

.be atimulaJ:ed.

As cassava production 18 expanded and prices decrease, new markets

for caaaava are likely to be economically feaslble (e.g. the

devel~pment of the European and Japanese roarket for cassava can be

affected bY'price changes).

Cassava occupies a considerable area in Colombia (Figures r and 11).

Yields are low, and·little improvement has been no~ed in the last ten

year8.(Figure 11). Production increases have resulted almost exclusively

from expanded areas. A linear treúd for area planted to cassava shows

an annusl increase of 3,760 ha (Figure 11).

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40.

LAND TENURE

Cassava is mainly found on small plots,'with mest plots ranging between

0.5 ha and 2 ha. Only few plcts are bigger. Thus, mest of the amall

aized and bigger cassava farmera cultivate more than one plot •

Concernlng the relation to che land, in my sample of 27 farmera, 16

farmera are Iandowners, 9 farmera are sharecroppers and 2 farmers rent

land.

Of the nine sharecroppers, four al so own land cultivated with cassava •

The fact that sharecropping. 1s a rather connnon use, may result from the

followlng:

~assava 18 the only annual cash crop in the area

for day laborers it is a possible way of reaching a higher

income level (see Chapter 11).

given the scarcity of land and the difficulty of renting land,

lt 18 a possibility for landowners to expando Examples are

the four cassava farmers, who are partly'landowners, partIy

sharecroppers. In additiDn to the nine sharecroppers> two

o.ther farmers already owned land planted with' other crops

(mainly coffee) and started to grow cassava on a cost-share

lease basis •

PREPARATION OF THE SOIL

, In the last decade the length of the fallow perlod has shortened considerably.

Where it was common ten yeara ago to keep land as woods for five to six

years, now the average duration of the fallow period 18 three yeare, and

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...

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41.

FIGURE ,. Area grown with 11 maior crops in Colombia, 197T

1000 Ha.

·

1000 ·

900 ·

800 · •

700 -

600 ·

500 -

400

300

200

lOO

--

Coffee Maize Sugor- Rice 1/ cone

1/ Doto from 1970 2/ Dato from 1970

3/ Doto from second se mes ter

.

, ,

~ ~ 1. Plontoin Cotton Cossavo Sorghum Beons Pototoes Wheat

2/ 3/

of 1971 and first semester of 1972.

Source: Programas Agrícolas del Ministerio de Agricultura. Oficina de Planeomiento del Sector Agropecuario, Bógotá, Colombia. Jonuary and December, 1972.

,

..

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!

1000 Ton. 1000

900

800

700

600

1000 Ha 160

150

140

, 130

120.

110

Ton! o. 6

5

4

3

2

o

42.

F IG URE 11. The trend in Product ion, Aceo ond

Yields of C::ossova 1960 - 1969.

Production

(V 1 = 638.53 + 28.19 X R = 0.90)

-- ,

/vea

~ V2 = 116.80 + 3:76 XR = 0.86)

vield - - - -.:-:::

(V3 = 5.55 + 0.04 X R = 0.69)

1960 61 62 63' 64 ,6 66 6 Veors

Sources: Programas Agrícolas del Ministerio de Agriculturo. Oficina de PlorÍeo-miento del Sector Agropecuario, Bogo1\:} Colombia, December 1972. p;204

L. Joy Atkinson, Chonges in Agricultural Production ond Technology in Colombia. U. S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service in Coopero/ion with the Ministry of Agriculture and ¡he Central Planninfl'

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somet1mes even 1ess. Worsen1ng of 8011 fert11ity ls the reault of ehia

change.

The first step after the fallow per10d is to cut down brush arid woodland

with machetes. The woody material is either bumed or piled ae ehe edge

of the field, where it rots. The smaller weeds are left on the field

as they are good manure. They are mixed with the soil during ploughing.

After this initial manual land clearing, the s011 is ploughed with oxen.

The majority of the fsrmers grow three consecutive erops of cassava in

the same fteld. Hardly any farmers practice crop rotstion. Some p10ugh

the s011 with oxen for every erop,others plow on1y for the first erop

after the fal10w periodo In the 1atter·case they prepare the land

manua11y for the second and third erop.

Meehanieal land preparation seems out of the question because of the

bad accessibility of the fie1ds, the often ateep slopes and the usua11y

rough surface of the fields l • Because o~ the great differenee in physical

conditiona of the fields, the time arid costs needed for ploughing 1 ha

vary considerably. On an average, 1 found that the p10ughing of 1 ha

takes eight days and costs $1.500. The $1.500 includes the rent payment

for the oxen and paying of the two labourers, one leading the oxen, the

other one steering the plough.

There are about eight families that poseess osen in this area.' For them

ploughing, ·which la mostly done by contract, ia a nice additional income.

The average costs seem to me to be rather hlgh. Theretore, aside from

the physical impedimenta, mechanical land preparation may well be

economically feasible.

1 1 only know one farmer in the area who used a tractor for preparing a 2-ha plot. This plot ia located along the road and the surface i8 rather even.

44.

Formerly the fermera preferred to prepare the soU io July,and August.

In these dry hot months the cut weeds and b~sh wither quickly end are

eas1ly absorbed by the soi1 when the firat rain starts to fall tn

September. Moreover, preparing the lsnd in July and August means that

the crop can be aowed io September. !he first ratnfall stimulates a

rapid growth of the young seedlings. This habit was abandoned when

the csssava factories were built. !hey created a constant demand for

cassava durtng the ~ole year, so farmers have to spread the sowing

dates of cassava in order to meet the daily,needs of the cassava

factories. Nevertheless, July and August are sti11 the mest popular

months for land preparation and September and October for sowing.

SOWING

Although they prefer to sow in September aod October, farmers say that

"the cassava csn be sown in every mooth of the year." The cassava is

sown wHh the oew moon, which sccording to the farmer, has a positive

influence on the growth.

!he fact that cassava can be so~'!l in every month of the year has the

advantage that if necessary, the farmer can turn the sowing date of

cssssvs to his other crops. Some othér cropa, l1ke coffee, corn snd beans,

must be sown in certain perlods of the year. ThuB, he can spread his

labour input, whlch may save him money. If the farmer practices lnter-

cropping, he can adjust his c8ssava practices to the requirements of

his intercrops.

Planting material i8 obtained from the previous crop. The stem 18 cut , ,

into stakes of 10 - 15 cm, ~hich are planted in ltttle holes. Tbe caSS8va

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45.

ls never p1anted on ridges. The planting distance is about 1 x 1 m

Which provldes a p1ant popu1atlon of about 10.000 plants/ha. If the

first seedlings do not grow we11, some farmers consider ie worehwhile

to replanto Using a bigger or smaller plimting diseance depends on:

The farmer's perception of soil fertility; As mast farmers

are aware of the rapíd worsenlng of soi1 fertility - not only

st long notiee - one could expect that the p1anting distance

of tbe second and third ·crop increases. However, this does

not seem to happen •

The accuracy of sowing

The practicing of intercropping.

Nowadays peop1e have to buy their plantíng material for the first crop

after the fa110w periodo Cood planting material is already acaree in

the warmer zone around ~ Puente, south of Cuatro Esquinas, because many

cassava plants· are affected by a dísease called "Cuero de Sapo" (frog skin

root disease). Peop1e expect that this disease will al so affect cassava

in their area in the future. At the moment., the amount of affected plants

i8 sti11 ·limited in the area. Nevertheless. people are scared to buy

plantíng material froro a fleld in which some affected plants were found,

es1'ecial1y because they do not kno" ""'etber it ls a disease of the plant

or the soil. The resu~t is s rise in priees of planting material.

Tha old farmers especially corop1ain of the "cal'itallzing 01: human conduct" •.

In former days, planting material was given to neighbors, relatives snd

frienda. Farmers now thinkthst esl'ecially at this time when 1'eo1'1e do

not know if the l'1anting material la infeeted or not, they should hell'

•

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each other even more. Some faruters consider it a shame that in

particular the richer and the younger fa~ers take advantage of the

aituation by raistng the price of planting ~terial.

WEEDING

46.

Weed control in cassava ia done by hand. Mast farmers weed thre times

dur1ng the growing cycle, at about two weeks and three and six months

after the sowing date •

Cassava's relatively high resistance to weeds makes it pos8ible if

necessary, for a farrner to postpone a weeding. Thus he is able to spread

the required labour input during the growing cycle. Most times the

weedings are performed by hired day labourers but ·in some cases it ia

done by contracto Weeding is heavywork, especially during the rainy

months when the weeds grow fast and the 80il i8 wet.

TIIE USE Of CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY

Like the use of mechanical technology the application of chemical

technology 1a very limited.

lnsect ieides.

The application of insecticides ia the only chemical input in the area.

Prices of insecticides are low. One appl1es the insecticides with a

back-pack sprayer.

Herbic ides.

No one uses herbicides for cassava for the following·reasona:

lt ia not at all certain that a change froro manual weed

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47.

control methoda to chemical control would havé a significant 1

impact on yields •

Assuming an average labor use for manual weed control of 45

man-days/ha, substitution of chemical control for manual weed

control, would reduce labor requirement to about 42 man-days/ha.

Figure 111 shows the relation between the use of herbicides

and labor SaVing l •

With a present daily wage for weeding of $20 in tbe area, a

substitution of chemical for manual weed control seems very

unlikely. However, an increase in the wage-herbicide price

ratio could result in an increase of herbicide use.

Apart from these ratber objective reasons, more subjective reasons are:

1

The farmera do not know if the use of herbicides increasea

production or noto

If tbey do believe tbat herbicide use increases production,

they do not know in which measure ft increases •

·Some farmers think that the application of herbicides may

decrease production Lnstead of Lncreasing it, because they

believe that herbicides damage the quality of the soil.

They do not know bow to apply herbicides properiy.

"Present and potential labor use in cassava production in Colombia", by Per Pinstrup-Andersen and Rafael O. Dlaz, 1973.

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48.

FIGURE 111. lhe effect of chemical weed control on labour use in

cassava production in Colomb ia.

Reductio.n in labor use

(1.000 man-years)

30

25

20

15

1

10 30 50 70 90

Cassava orea w ith chemical weed control (% of total

110 cassava orea) o .

Source: Present and potential labour use in cassava production i . (.olombia, by

Per Pinstrup~Andersen ond Rofael O Diaz, Cali, Colombia, 1973.

fIl·

49.

FertUizers.

As 1 already knew that fertilizera are not used in this area, an analysis

of the differences be.tween adopters and non-adopten (e.g. differences

in ecological conditions, in economic posttions of. the farmers, in

qualities and views of the farmera) was out of the question.

Because the introduction of fertilizers is often regarded as one of the

measures for increasing productlon, it aeemed interesting to me to

analyze which factors preclude the use of fertilizers at this moment

and under which condltions the farmera would be wl11ing and abIe to

adopt the use of fertilizers.

Regarding the precIuding factora, 1 found in various literature the

common factors such as:

My father and grandfather did not use fertiIizers either.

Lack of.capital •

. - FeeIings of insecurity. People do not know ho,", far the

1 use of fertilizers increases the production •

The 1ack of knowledge about applying fertilizers.

The belief that on steep slopes the fertilizers wl11 be

carried awsy by the rain.

To create favorable condltions for the introduction of fertilizers it may

be necessary to create better credit facilities for the farmer, provide

simple technical assistance, layout a demonstration fieId, etc.

1 Some years ago one of the·bigger farmers used fertilizers on a 2 ha p10t. Por one reason or another his production decreased. This event had a negative demonstration effect and intensified the feelings of insecurity of many people.

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50.

On the other hand, 1 al so found faetora Whieh appear to be prohibitive

for the uae of fertilizera. !hese faetors are relatad to the produetion

'of eassava stareh in the amall cassava factories:

In case fertilizers are used, the cassava contains relatively

more water and les s starch (dry matter).

The starch weighs less if fertilizers are used.

The "mancha" does not separate well from che stareh during

the sedimentation process (see Chapter V) ii fertilizers are

used. This consequently affects the quality of the atarch.

Though 1 do not know if these effects from the use oi fertilizera are

scientifically proven, they are at least considered to be true by the

farmera and particularly by some factory owners, bssed on their

experience with fertilized cassava of the zone of El Tambo some years

ago. Consequently, the factory owners do not buy fertilized cassava as

it decreases the amount of starch as well as the quallty of the starch

and therefore decreases their income:

In my oplnlon, a further analysis, at least. in this geographic area,

of che coDditionsunder which the farmere would be willing and be able

. to adopt the use of fertilizers ia questionable.

HARVESTING

In this area cassava has a growing cycle of one year. Only in case of

an urgent need of cash do people se11 their cassava a few months earlier

when it 18 still on the fleld. Th18 action leads to not only a lower '

prlce, but arso often 10S9 of the planting material. The oppoalte •

51.

postponing the hsrvest, also happens sometimes. Cassa